16th SPICE meeting
43rd ICECE meeting

Karlsruhe, Germany21 – 23 Nov 1999

The local host of the annual ADT conference, Herbert Hoffmann, executive director of the "Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe" had invited for a SPICE / ICECE meeting, initially scheduled for the time after the conference. But a "formal" SPICE meeting could not be held. Some members came later and others had to leave early. Therefore the network flexibility was used to arrange the "floating meeting" in the well known way: during the social events of the conference, e.g. during the reception to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the "Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe", one of the oldest innovation centers in Germany and clearly one of the most successful. This celebration offered unusual perspectives. Taking place in the new "Media Museum" participants could experience interactive media art -really something special and worth to explore!

The international part of the conference again was mostly provided by SPICE members, for example at the opening session with Luis Sanz, a "Digital Champion", who gave a well received presentation of the influence of information and communication technologies on future entrepreneurial development. One of the conference workshops focussed on international business cooperation, e.g. with a report of Heinz Fiedler, who informed about the experience gained from company cooperation events during the last year. The ICECE Work Group could welcome a new member: Klaus Plate, executive director of the Technology Park Heidelberg, Germany and director of the European Section of IASP.